Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) had no luck in the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit, both falling foul to technical problems on their bikes.

Dovizioso powered away well from row two at the start of the 20-lap race and was third at the end of the opening lap. On the next lap the Italian was passed by Marc Marquez, but was comfortably able to hold on to fourth place for 14 laps, with a safe lead over Stefan Bradl. A problem with his Desmosedici however forced him to slow and he lost a few positions, eventually finishing the race in eighth place.

Crutchlow also got a good start from the third row to find himself sixth behind Bradl, but on lap 5 his GP14’s engine suddenly cut out with an electrical problem and the bike came to a halt, forcing the British rider into retirement.

Dovizioso commented,

“It’s a pity about the problem, every time I opened the gas the engine stuttered and I had to slow down. Hopefully this will be useful when it comes to improving things for next year. I am quite happy with the way my race was going, because we know that the top four riders are difficult to catch at the moment. This weekend we did a great job: we improved in every session and in my opinion, did the best that can be done with this bike. Above all I was keeping a constant pace, which was what interested me the most, because on this track it’s very difficult.”

Crutchlow added,

“Obviously I’m really disappointed, because I felt we had a great pace for the race. We knew from the morning Warm Up that the pace on the completely used tyre was better than what the guys were doing ahead of me after five laps so I was confident I could have at least finished in the top four. But this is racing, we had an electrical problem and the engine stopped. It’s disappointing, but now we have to come back in Valencia and ride as best as possible.”



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